Tradition
by Sela McGrane
Summary: When a tradition exists for more than one reason.


**For Kirstin, who requested Fluff. Hope you all enjoy something non-Angsty from me! **

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Hermione Granger had heard about all kinds of strange traditions since she'd entered the wizarding world twenty years ago, but _this_ topped them all. Her mouth fell open in complete shock as the staff body at Hogwarts - her new colleagues - informed her that it was traditional that a new Professor attempt to seduce the Headmistress. Evidently, it had started right after the war had ended, when there'd been several new Professors to come to Hogwarts that next term, and Filius had offhandedly remarked that Minerva really needed to get shagged, and that the new members of the staff should try to help her out with that.

According to Pomona and the current Transfiguration Professor, Isobel Stanwick, so far no one had actually succeeded in getting Minerva into bed, although at this point she did expect the attempt would come, half-hearted or otherwise, with Hermione's appointment to the Potions post. "You can't honestly expect me to go along with this. The Headmistress, I'm certain, doesn't appreciate this tradition of yours."

"It's in good fun, Hermione," the Irish native said. "And it serves as a good icebreaker. No conversation with Minerva will ever be awkward once you've made a pass at her and lived to tell the tale."

"Alternately, Isobel, since my conversations with Minerva aren't awkward to begin with, I should just skip the proverbial ice breaker and let the poor woman have a break from this nonsense."

"Personally, I think she secretly enjoys it," Filius admitted. "Which is why I suggested it in the first place."

Hours later, Hermione made her way up to Minerva's office, intent on wishing her new boss a good night before heading to bed, although her mind was still on the interesting meeting with the staff. The problem, in Hermione's mind, was that she had already considered the notion of seducing Minerva McGonagall too many times to count, and rejected the idea just as many times. It had taken just one night of crying in her former mentor's arms eleven years prior, in the wake of the end of her relationship with Ron, to spark deeper feelings for the now Headmistress. Her romance with Ron had survived just over a year before she'd caught him in bed with Lavender Brown, effectively ending both the romance and their friendship. She wished she'd cared more about all of that, but in truth she'd been glad for the excuse to step off the path that led to motherhood and the life of a homemaker.

Further, she couldn't fathom being with anyone while she felt what she realized she felt for Minerva, so she hadn't pursued another relationship. She'd begun her Potions Mastery as soon as she'd finished her already in progress Charms Mastery, and now that she'd finished that degree, she'd decided it was time to start looking for work. Minerva had jumped at the opportunity to hire her friend.

"Min?" she called, letting herself into the office with the password.

"I wondered if you'd be up before bed," Minerva replied, smiling from where she was sitting on the sofa by the window. "I'd imagine the staff has just scarred you for life and you're in dire of a cup of tea to calm your nerves."

"Yes, please," Hermione replied, joining her. "I can't believe you never told me about that! You know, some time before I had the whole of the staff urging me to jump your bones?"

Minerva chuckled. "I thought about it, but I wanted to see the look on your face. Your expression of indignation is quite charming."

"Go fuck yourself," Hermione growled. "Charming, my arse…"

"Fuck me yourself, coward," Minerva said quietly, and it took Hermione a moment to realize that the older woman was being completely serious.

"What?" Hermione asked dumbly.

Minerva rolled her eyes. "Honestly, Hermione, how long are we going to dance around this? How long are we going to pretend there's nothing but friendship between us? You asked why I didn't warn you about the staff's tradition? In truth, I was hoping you'd embrace the idea and we could avoid this conversation entirely, just like I've been hoping that one day you'd come back to Hogwarts, and to me."

Hermione couldn't believe her ears. Had she been so sure of Minerva's disinterest romantically that she'd missed signs that she was? "Are you saying…"

"_Yes_, Hermione," Minerva replied, reaching out her hand and cupping Hermione's cheek.

The touch was shocking, and made her recoil, even if her body was more than upset for pulling away. "Wait a minute, Min, we have to talk about this. We can't just… get involved. I've only just started working here, and the Board will think that our involvement is why I was hired and I won't be respected and…"

Minerva silenced her by standing, pushing her against a wall, and kissing her senseless. "Don't worry about the Board," she murmured.

Hermione melted into the embrace, ignoring the gasps from the portraits in general, until Phineas' familiar voice snapped at her. "Granger! That's my portrait you're nearly shagging against!"

"Sorry," she said with a giggle. "Sorry…"

Their kiss was frenzied, and moved back over to the sofa. "Have you any idea how long I've waited to taste you?" Minerva asked.

"If it's been half as long as I've waited," Hermione said raggedly, breathing hard, "then I understand how you feel right now. Do you think we could pull ourselves together enough to get to my quarters?"

"My quarters are closer," Minerva remarked, tugging her companion upright and pulling her toward a door on the far side of the office. "And there's no need to pull anything together."

Hermione blushed as Minerva gawked at her undone blouse, heaving breasts clad in lace on full display. "How long, Minerva?" she asked softly. "How long have you been in love with me?"

"About eight years," the other woman admitted. "I just thought of you one day, about a conversation we'd had previously that had made me laugh, and I mentally said _I love that woman_, and suddenly realized just how much."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"You were still working on your Masteries, and I didn't want to disrupt that."

"So you waited till I came back here of my own free will," Hermione concluded. "We might have been together years and years."

"The strain of your schedule versus mine would have destroyed a new relationship before it had a chance to develop properly, Hermione," Minerva said, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "I didn't want to risk ruining it with impatience."

"So you waited."

"And I let the staff's tradition continue, because I knew that one day, you'd come home," the Headmistress agreed.

If Hermione had thought she loved Minerva before, she had been wrong. The emotion welling up in her was beyond love. It was life. She launched herself into Minerva's arms, and the two of them continued into the bedroom. Between the door and the bed, shirts, shoes, and bras were all discarded, allowing for breast to breast contact the moment they lay on the king sized mattress together.

"Trousers…" Hermione gasped, reaching for the button at her waist as Minerva removed herself enough to shimmy out of her own skirt and then sink back onto Hermione's now completely naked body. "Gods…"

"I feel as if I've been waiting for you my whole life," Minerva whimpered as Hermione's kisses began to trail down her slender form. "Only you, Hermione…"

Hermione slid two fingers inside Minerva's body, eliciting a gasp, as her lips continued to explore the woman she'd so often dreamed about. Her imagination, vivid as it was, had nothing on the tastes and smells and the utter magic of the moment. Her sexuality had all but been dormant in the wake of Ron's infidelity, but it spilled forth now with a vengeance. Her body was humming in response to simply touching her lover, and half an hour later when the roles reversed and Minerva was slipping a pair of delightfully long fingers inside her own body, climax came, and came, and came again. It was like nothing she'd ever experienced, and if the way Minerva was moaning was any indication, the other woman was also enjoying herself more than she had with other partners.

The moon was high in the sky by the time the two exhausted women had finally satiated themselves, and thoughts of getting ample sleep before classes in the morning was replaced by the thought, in Hermione's mind, of whether or not she'd be able to walk by the time she needed to be in the dungeons tomorrow. Right now, she didn't think she could so much as stand, let alone actually get her feet to function enough to go anywhere.

When the next morning came, while more than a little relaxed, both Minerva and Hermione were able to walk down to breakfast in the Great Hall. Minerva took her customary seat in the center of the group, and Hermione walked to the empty chair between Filius and Isobel. "Good morning!" she said chipperly.

"Oh, sweet Merlin," Filius said, eyes darting furiously between the two witches who'd arrived together. "You did it. You actually managed to do it!"

"I did no such thing," Hermione said dismissively. "I did not seduce Minerva."

"Bullshite!" Isobel hissed. "That's a hickey, right there!" she said, pointing to Hermione's neck.

"She seduced me," Hermione shrugged. "That's not how the tradition was meant to go, right?"

The Charms and Transfiguration Professors both glanced over at the Headmistress, slack-jawed, each wondering how they had not seen this coming. For Filius' part, he was wondering whether or not the tradition had really been his idea in the first place, or if his boss and friend had been planning this for years. He'd have to ask her later.

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